This passionate belief that Cornwall should be given the same respect as its Celtic cousins – Wales, Scotland and Ireland – saw a delegation from Cornwall visit Westminster in 2017 to argue the case for a Cornish tick box on the 2021 census.

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Cornwall Council has held a number of discussions with senior officials at the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which is responsible for carrying out the census, asking for the change to be made in the next census.

Councillor Dick Cole, leader of the party Mebyon Kernow which campaigns for a national assembly for Cornwall, believes this issue to be an important one.

He has before said that he deemed it impressive that so many people took the initiative in the last census to identify as Cornish. Though, he says, if there had been a specific tick-box the number would have likely been much higher.

“The Cornish were officially recognised as a national minority more than three years ago but so far there has been nothing tangible to accompany this declaration,” said Mr Cole, speaking in December 2017.

“It’s time that the government backed up their fine words with action and we will continue to make the case for Cornwall at every opportunity.”

In 2014 the UK government announced that the Cornish people would be classified under the European framework convention for the protection of national minorities in the same way as the UK’s other Celtic people. The news was widely celebrated across Cornwall.

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However in 2017 the government was criticised by the Council of Europe for not doing enough to address the cultural needs of communities in Cornwall.

The Council of Europe made a specific recommendation to the ONS stating it should take the necessary measures to include the possibility to self-identify as Cornish in the next census.

The report said: "Representatives of the Cornish minority believed that the steps taken so far at the level of central government and local authorities have not been sufficiently meaningful to substantiate recognition of the Cornish as a national minority.

West Cornwall MP Derek Thomas has re-asked the big question

"The Advisory Committee calls on the authorities to take the necessary measures to include the possibility to self-identify as Cornish, through a 'tick-box' in the next census, and to facilitate the expression of self-identification of any other group because data collection is relevant to the application of minority rights."

UK ministers were also criticised in the report for cutting funding for the Cornish language, and suggested they work harder to devolve power and raise the profile of Cornish life.

At the time of writing and after more than 650 votes Mr Thomas's poll is 95% in favour of having a 'Cornish' tick-box.